Myanmar says ethnic rebels stage raid on northeastern town

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar says at least 30 people were killed in fighting triggered by a pre-dawn attack by an ethnic rebel group in the country's northeast bordering China.

The office of the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, blamed the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army for the Monday morning attack, which it said killed five civilians and five police officers. It said the bodies of 20 other people were found after the fighting in the town of Laukkai in northern Shan state. It was not clear if the 20 were among the estimated 50 attackers.

Fierce fighting between the government and the rebel group, which represents the Kokang, an ethnic Chinese minority, last occurred in 2015, sending tens of thousands of civilians fleeing across the border to China.